Roger Alton

Roger Alton is an executive editor at The Times. He writes the Spectator Sport column.

The best (and worst) of this year’s sport

14 December 2024 9:00 am

It was quite a year for some of the worst of sport – America’s golfers, already among the richest and…

Who says Test cricket is boring?

30 November 2024 9:00 am

Under a dark sapphire sky, tearing across grass as green as a lick of new paint, Mitchell Starc raced in…

The towering talent of Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii

16 November 2024 9:00 am

When it comes to dishing out God’s gifts, you feel the Almighty could be a little more even-handed. Take Joseph-Aukuso…

The glaring mismatch in English football

2 November 2024 9:00 am

Your starter for ten: who was the last English manager to win the top flight of English football? Treat yourself…

The hypnotic competitiveness of Sir Ben Ainslie

19 October 2024 9:00 am

Sailing’s very own ubermensch Sir Ben Ainslie has every right to be considered the world’s most competitive bloke. Those who…

Sorry, but you’ve got to love the Springboks

5 October 2024 9:00 am

There may still be some poor benighted souls who regard the Springboks as the bane of rugby union. If you…

Why women’s golf is better than men’s

21 September 2024 9:00 am

In the exhilarating event of Somerset managing to sneak past Surrey and being on their way to claim their first…

Mickleover: the real home of cricket

7 September 2024 9:00 am

Readers concerned that the seemingly imperious march of Bazball across the cricket firmament has blotted out the more, er, traditional…

The simple beauty of the Hundred

24 August 2024 9:00 am

Time to come clean: I really like the Hundred. This is the sort of view that normally makes people look…

This Olympics belongs to the female athletes

10 August 2024 9:00 am

You knew it was going to be a superb Olympics from the moment Celine Dion belted out an Edith Piaf…

Why Keely Hodgkinson is the one to watch at the Olympics

27 July 2024 9:00 am

The Olympics have been creeping up on us through the forest of top-class sport this summer. But now they’re here,…

Murray shouldn’t have relied on injury-prone Raducanu

13 July 2024 9:00 am

Talk about raging against the dying of the light: Andy Murray and President Biden both. Murray because he is no…

Don’t let City spoil top-flight football

15 June 2024 9:00 am

The Pac-Man defence, as all high-flying financiers know, is a tactic borrowed from the enjoyably addictive computer game which means…

The perils of going to Manchester United

1 June 2024 9:00 am

Plodding up Wembley Way to the FA Cup Final at the weekend surrounded by a phalanx of well-refreshed Manchester United…

Is pro-golf eating itself?

18 May 2024 9:00 am

Spare a thought for Manchester United’s Erik ten Hag. He’s got a fairly crummy, injury-hit team who appear to have…

The strikers giving Southgate a headache

4 May 2024 9:00 am

Poor Gareth Southgate. Having three outstanding finishers is giving him a thumping headache ahead of the European Championship. Harry Kane,…

Manchester City are surely unstoppable

20 April 2024 9:00 am

Well it was fun while it lasted, the closest three-way race for the Premier League in history, a title challenge…

County cricket needs Bazball

6 April 2024 9:00 am

It’s freezing cold and everywhere is flooded, so it must be the start of the county cricket season. Surrey, last…

Farewell to rugby’s King John

10 February 2024 9:00 am